The gelato business my father inspired

She grew up in Kenya, did her undergraduate studies in Environmental Science and Mathematics Statistics in Australia, her master’s degree in London and an apprenticeship in Italy.

At 33, Neeral Shah has led a vibrant life that has taken her around the globe, but eventually brought her back home to start one of the few gelato businesses in Africa.

Gelato is a close relation to ice-cream – except it is denser, has more milk and less fat, air and sugar.

“It’s kind of like buying bread from a supermarket shelf versus a small bakery. Supermarket bread is okay but bakery bread is art. It’s fresh, has character and no two loaves are ever the same. If ice-cream is supermarket bread, gelato is small bakery bread,” says Neeral.

Getting started

She loved gelato right from when she first had it. As a teenager, she would cycle with her friends from Nairobi’s Westlands estate to the Village Market every Sunday morning and wait for the gelato shop at the shopping mall to open.

She carried this love with her to Australia and the UK where she would often stumble upon gelato shops as she walked to and from work. While her friends went looking for the best pubs, Neeral went looking for the best gelato shops.

“My favourite one was in London, which I’d pass by every day, whether at 7am or 9pm. The gelato chef was an Italian called Ariele Guaschino, and there was just something magical about his recipes. I’d never tasted gelato quite like that before. I fell in love with the gelateria,” says Neeral.

She became friends with Ariele, whom she constantly pestered to teach her about gelato recipes and texture.

When Neeral returned to Kenya in 2012, she couldn’t find any good gelato shops, so she decided to start making her own.

Using the lessons she had learned from Ariele, tips off the Internet and recipe books that her London friends had given her as a farewell gift, Neeral was soon making good gelato.

“I didn’t have a job at the time. My friends and family loved the gelato so much that I started trading it for dinners, trips and gifts just to spice up my life a bit,” she says.

“My friends convinced me I could start a business selling gelato, so I decided to do it. But I needed professional training first.”

Neeral was referred to a school in Italy run by a gelato maestro, who taught her many of the gelato techniques she knows today. After she graduated, she worked with Ariele, who had by then opened his own gelato shop. She gives the two men credit for the excellence she pursues in her business.

Raising capital

NEEd Gelato officially started in 2015 after Neeral’s return from Italy. The start-up capital needed to buy all the machines and do the fixtures came to about Sh5 million. Neeral and her husband, who decided to join her in the business, could only put together about Sh150,000.

They bought one gelato-making machine and her father offered to chip in for a second.

NEEd Gelato inadvertently became a family business, with Neeral and her father handling the kitchen and her husband handling the logistics.

“My first event was at Blankets and Wine in Nairobi. I only had about one day to prep for it. My dad and I spent hours in the kitchen chopping fruit. It could have been a nightmare but it felt right, it felt perfect,” she says.

But the event didn’t go as anticipated. For one, there wasn’t adequate electricity at the premises, so the gelato melted. Secondly, most people, especially after dark, were more interested in food and alcohol than gelato.

Neeral says she didn’t regret it, however, because she made good contacts and learnt valuable lessons – such as to always carry her own power supply or freezers that don’t need electricity.

Over the next few months, Neeral got constant bookings for events like birthday parties, bridal showers and dinners. She started experimenting more with her recipes, including adding alcoholic flavours like gin and whiskey.

But as fate would have it, as soon as the company started taking off, Neeral’s husband got a deal to start a gym with a friend. He pulled out of working full time at NEEd Gelato.

Neeral also got a full-time job as a quality management system specialist, one of her other passions.

As a result, they could only focus on the gelato business over the weekends.

“I will admit the company took a hit because we couldn’t give it our undivided attention anymore. It was a difficult decision, but we had to balance between our immediate bills and building our brand,” says Neeral.

Striking a balance

She is often overstretched, sometimes going days without adequate sleep as she sustains her job and business. But she is a determined woman.

“It’s been a year of setbacks for me and my family. We lost my dad earlier this year. That really shook me. He was my strength in so many ways. I learnt so much from him in the kitchen because he loved to cook. Now every time I am in the kitchen or I go for an event, I see him. It’s hard.”

Neeral is taking everything a step at a time because despite the grief and the changes happening, she says her love for gelato and her business is unshakeable. Her vision is to open a gelato shop in Nairobi, which will be a haven for people to come and read, write, hang out and listen to music.

Neeral also plans to start supplying her gelato to restaurants and hotels.

“Sometimes the road curves in a direction you didn’t think it would. But I believe if you stick to your passion and keep making an effort, you will get there. Just don’t give up,” she says.

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Gelato Neeral Shah